THE SOCIAL WITNESS OF CHARLES WESLEY’S HYMNS – Part 2 of 3

Here is the marvel of it: John and Charles Wesley did social action. They didn’t seem to pay a great deal of lip service to social reform, but they made it happen. Most church historians feel that the Wesleys were instinctively conservative politically, yet they brought about a social and economic reformation, the results of which continue in England and America to this day.   

Perhaps the text for their experience is Matthew 6:33, “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness and all these things shall be added unto you.” I am not by any means suggesting that we abandon or mute our call for social and economic justice, but I believe that call must be derivative. My reasons are both theological and pragmatic. If we believe, as the gospel declares, that human beings are eternal creatures, then we who are the unique advocates of the eternal dare not let that fact become obscure or secondary. And as we emphasize the eternal, and keep Christ as our focus, I am altogether sure that we will make a more effective social, economic, and political witness than we are now doing. So much of what we currently say seems to lack authority, or to be only an echo of the secular voices around us. We will regain our uniqueness and our power to the degree that we remember who our Lord is – Jesus, the Christ – and what manner of creatures we human beings are – eternal. 

-- J. Ellsworth Kalas (1923-2015) in “Our First Song: Evangelism in the Hymns of Charles Wesley” 

#6355

YOKED WITH JESUS

Jesus said, “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and my burden is light.”  (Matthew 11:28–30 NIV)

At our home in Door County, Wisconsin we have a yoke that my great-grandfather used on his farm in the late 1800’s. Seeing that yoke I have always been curious about Jesus’s use of that term in Matthew 11. There’s a reason Jesus doesn’t simply say, “Come to Me and rest.” He goes further. He says, “Take My yoke upon you… and you will find rest for your souls.”

A yoke is an instrument of work, not leisure. It joins two animals together so they move in the same direction, at the same pace, sharing the same load. At first glance, it seems strange -- why would Jesus offer rest by giving us a yoke?

Because His yoke is not a burden. His yoke is a relationship.

To be yoked to Christ means we no longer walk alone. We no longer pull the weight of life by ourselves. We no longer guess which direction to go or strain to keep up. When we take His yoke, we step into a life where He sets the pace, He bears the weight, and He guides the way.

When we are yoked to Him our striving becomes steady, because His strength steadies us. Our direction becomes clear, because His wisdom leads us. Our burdens become lighter, because His shoulders carry what ours cannot. Our souls find rest, not because life is easy, but because He is near.

Jesus doesn’t promise a life without burdens. He promises a life without weariness. A life where we move in step with the One who is gentle, humble, patient, and strong. A life where we learn from Him -- not by listening from afar, but by walking right beside Him.

Seeing my great-grandfather’s yoke is a good reminder to me to be yoked with Christ. And today, Jesus invites you again: Come. Take My yoke. Walk with Me. Let Me carry what you cannot.  In His presence even the heaviest loads become light.

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™

#6331

IT’S ALL ABOUT JESUS

For many years during my ministry at the two churches I served -- in Cleveland Heights, Ohio and in Green Bay, Wisconsin – we produced Lenten devotional booklets for daily meditation during the forty days leading up to Easter. We would come up with a theme each year, members of the church would be invited to write a personal story, and I would desktop publish them for distribution to the congregation. I recently came across a file on my computer from 2005 containing that season’s authors who wrote on the theme “It’s All About Jesus.” I realized that a number of those faithful believers were now in the church eternal, and for many of them I had the honor of officiating at their memorial service. While they are no longer here on earth, their words of personal witness and spiritual wisdom live on. Such is the case with the following devotional.

-- Rev. David T. Wilkinson, SOUND BITES Ministry™

 

“THE MISSING PIECE” by Gerry Christoph (1931–2019)

I knew a lot about Jesus.  I attended Sunday School and church as a child.  I continued regular church attendance and Bible studies as an adult.  Church activities and Christian outreach were a part of my life.

I also had time and opportunity to participate in many fun activities, such as golf, tennis, bowling, and exercise classes.

In my early 40's I got to a point where my life was just the way I had always wanted it to be with a loving family, many friends, and many activities.

Why was I restless?  Why did I feel insecure?  It seemed like all my life I added new pieces so my life would feel complete.  I was still missing one piece.  I had a feeling it had something to do with God.  All my life I had a longing to know Him better.

The obvious thing to do was to read and pray and search.  After six months, I had less faith than when I started.  After deciding to abandon my search, I decided to pray one more time.  My prayer went something like this, "God, I've searched and searched for You and I can't find You."  Then I paused because I didn't know what to pray next.  To my amazement, God gave me the words to continue.  "I'm not as good as I want to be, and I'm certainly not as good as I want You to think I am, but if You will take my faults, I want You to be Lord of my life."  It was at that moment of being completely honest with God and completely relinquishing my life to Him that He filled every pore of my being with His love.  I had never felt so undeserving, but I had never felt so loved.  I knew I would never doubt again.  I knew I would never be the same again.  Jesus had come into my life when I prayed that prayer.  Jesus is the missing piece that has completed my life's picture.  It really is ALL ABOUT JESUS!  I praise His Holy Name.

#6327

A COLONY OF HEAVEN

“Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.”  (Philippians 1:27 NLT)

Paul exhorts the church at Philippi to live as a colony of heaven. The ancient city of Philippi, filled with retired Roman soldiers from the imperial capital, trying hard to be a little Rome far from Rome, knew what it was to be a colony of a great city.

So Paul appealed to the church there to do the same -- to live as a colony of heaven. That’s a timely word for the church today. We live under the reign of a different king -- Jesus the Lord. Our ultimate allegiance is to a different kingdom -- the kingdom of heaven. We are ultimately bound by the laws of our true homeland. In the meantime, we must represent that land well until the Lord comes again and the kingdoms of this world become the kingdom of the Lord Jesus Christ.

As we bless others in the name of Christ, may we catch a glimpse of a better land and a more lasting kingdom. By the grace of God and the Spirit’s power, may they be wooed through our lives and our corporate witness into joining us on our journey. 

-- Donald W. Sweeting and George Sweeting in “How to Finish the Christian Life: Following Jesus in the Second Half” 

#6162

DEFEND ME, GOD

“I depend on God alone; I put my hope in Him. He alone protects and saves me; He is my defender, and I shall never be defeated. My salvation and honor depend on God; He is my strong protector; He is my shelter.” (Psalm 62:5-7 GNT)

Sovereign God, defend me from all temptation, that I may ever accept the right and refuse the wrong. Defend me from myself, that in Your care my weakness may not bring me to shame. May my lower nature never seize the upper hand.

Defend me from all that would seduce me, that in Your power no tempting voice may cause me to listen, no tempting sight fascinate my eyes.

Defend me against the chances and changes of this life, not that I may escape them but that I may meet them with firm resolve; not that I may be saved from them but that I may come unscathed through them.

Defend me from discouragement in difficulty and from despair in failure, from pride in success, and from forgetting You in the day of prosperity.

Help me to remember that there is no time when You will fail me and no moment when I do not need You.

Grant me this desire: that guided by Your light and defended by Your grace, I may come in safety and bring honor to my journey’s end by the defending work of Jesus Christ my Lord. May it always be so! 

-- Adapted from Norman Shawchuck in “A Guide to Prayer for All Who Seek God”

#6076

CHRISTMAS IS ABOUT RESCUE

“For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life through Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Romans 6:23 NLT)

This is what we need to be rescued from -- from the decision each of us have made, and continue to make, to ask Jesus to leave so that we can be the captain of our own soul and the ruler of our own life -- the attitude the Bible calls sin. We need to be rescued from the consequences of our decision.

When you realize this, the first Christmas comes to life, because when you realize this, you read these lines and you feel a deep hope and a dawning of joy: “You are to give Him the name Jesus, because He will save His people from their sins.”  (Matthew 1:21)

The divine Shepherd-Ruler came. The Magi were right to give Him gold. He showed glimmers of His kingdom and He invited people to join Him and enjoy Him. But He did more than that. He came not just to rule, but to rescue. He came to rescue you from your sin and its consequences.

Christmas is about rescue. It’s a rescue that you and I desperately need, and can wonderfully have. 

-- Carl Laferton in “Rescuing Christmas: The Search for Joy that Lasts”

#6004

SOMEONE TO SURRENDER TO

"For if you want to save your own life, you will lose it; but if you lose your life for Me and for the gospel, you will save it.”  (Mark 8:35 GNT)

G.K. Chesterton wrote, “When a person has found something which he prefers to life itself, he for the first time has begun to live.”

Jesus in His proclamation of the kingdom told us what we could prefer to life itself. The Bible ends by telling us we are called to be a people who could say, “Come, Lord Jesus” (Revelation 22:20), who could welcome something more than business as usual and live in God’s Big Picture. We all have to ask for the grace to prefer something to our small life because we have been offered the Shared Life, the One Life, the Eternal Life, God’s Life that became visible for us in this world as Jesus.

What we are all searching for is Someone to surrender to, something we can prefer to life itself. Well here is the wonderful surprise: God is the only one we can surrender to without losing ourselves! The irony is that we actually find ourselves, but now in a whole new and much larger field of meaning. 

-- Adapted from “Preparing for Christmas with Richard Rohr”

#5800

BELIEVE IN THE LORD JESUS – Part 1 of 4

“[The Jailer asked Paul and Silas], ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ They replied, ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved -- you and your household.” Then they spoke the word of the Lord to him and to all the others in his house.”  (Acts 16:30-32 NIV)

Notice that there are three parts to this key phrase in this passage: “Believe in the Lord Jesus.” First we must “believe.” We have an intuitive sense of what the word “believe” means: to assert that something is true. Certainly “believe” has this meaning in this passage. However, what the Bible means by belief goes beyond cognitive affirmation. Believe also means “to put one’s trust in something or someone.” Because you hold certain facts to be true, you act on them. For example, you say you can believe that an airplane can carry you from Detroit to Los Angeles. But this is not belief in the full biblical sense until you get on the plane and trust your life to it.

Second, the passage calls upon us to believe in something quite specific. Belief as an end in itself is not being commended. We must believe in “the Lord Jesus.” We are called to believe one main thing: that the Lord Jesus, by His death, made it possible for us to be saved from our sin. 

-- Richard Peace in “Learning to Love God”

#5788

LOYALTY TO KING JESUS

"Pilate therefore said to Him, 'Are you a king then?' Jesus answered, 'You say rightly that I am a king. For this cause I was born, and for this cause I have come into the world, that I should bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.'" (John 18:37)

We have two kinds of kings in this world. The first is the parliamentary monarch, such as Britain's Queen Elizabeth II. As the object of great reverence, she was encircled by grandeur and gilded with tradition. In terms of real power, however, she had little; her opinions were heard with politeness and patience, but her office was primarily ceremonial. The British prime minister holds the reins of government.

The other kind of king is the absolute monarch whose office is both ceremonially impressive and politically powerful. He is head of state, he leads the nation, and his authority is supreme.

Many Christians treat Jesus like a parliamentary king. Once a week -- if it's convenient! -- they hold court with Him and make Him the object of great reverence. He is heard with politeness and patience, but in terms of daily life He has little influence.

Our Lord is an absolute monarch. He would rather have one person who is 100 percent committed to Him than a hundred people who are 80% committed. John Wesley said, “if I had 300 men who feared nothing but God, hated nothing but sin, and determined to know nothing among men but Christ, and Him crucified, I would set the world on fire.”

“For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him” (2 Chronicles 16:9).

-- Adapted from Robert J. Morgan in “He Shall Be Called”

#5434

JESUS CHRIST – SAVIOR AND LORD

Believing is not merely giving mental assent to what Christ did and then living any way we want.  Saving faith has four important steps.  First, we must decide to leave behind our past life.  Second, we must admit that we cannot help ourselves.  Third, we must accept what Christ has done on our behalf.  Fourth, we must entrust ourselves to Him in this way; we accept His way of life as our way of life.  So when He becomes our Savior, He also becomes our Lord.

Why is faith so important for salvation?  Faith is the opposite of the basic sin that separates man from God.  Man's fall took place when he chose to decide for himself what is good and what is evil.  He chose to build his own system of values.  So man's basic sin is independence from God.  Faith is the opposite of independence from God.  When one exercises faith, he rejects his own ways of saving himself and controlling his life and submits to the way God provided for him in Christ Jesus.

Here then is the gospel in a nutshell: God has, in Christ, done all that is necessary for our salvation and we must accept that by faith. 

-- Ajith Fernando in “The Christian's Attitude Toward World Religions”

#5054

WHEN JESUS IS LORD

For even if there are so-called gods, whether in heaven or on earth (as indeed there are many ‘gods’ and many ‘lords’), yet for us there is but one God, the Father, from whom all things came and for whom we live; and there is but one Lord, Jesus Christ, through whom all things came and through whom we live.”  (1 Corinthians 8:5-6 NIV)

Make no mistake: if Jesus is not Lord of our lives, someone or something else will be. Jesus taught, “No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.” (Matthew 6:24 NIV) By the same token, you cannot serve God and politics. You cannot serve God and sex. You cannot serve God and work.  Yes, you can participate in politics, you can have a healthy and righteous sex life, and you can strive to succeed at work. Only one, though, may truly have dominion over your life… You can only have one highest priority. You can only have one lord, and of the many lords from which we may choose, only Jesus brings us true peace, a heart in line with God’s heart, and eternal life.

For Jesus to be Lord of our lives, we must offer Him three things: our obedience, our trust, and our love. Anything less, and we are denying Him His rightful place as Lord. 

-- David Watson in “A Firm Foundation”

#4924

PREACHING THE WORD OF GOD

“Therefore, since through God’s mercy we have this ministry, we do not lose heart. Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways; we do not use deception, nor do we distort the word of God. On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God… For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake. For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ.”  (2 Corinthians 4:1,2,5,6 NIV)

When we listen to preachers who are really available to themselves and, therefore, able to offer their own life experience as a source of recognition, we no longer have to be afraid to face our own condition and that of our world because the one who stands in front of us is the living witness that insight makes us free and does not create new anxieties.  Only then can indifference and irritation be removed, only then can the Word of God, which has been repeated so often but understood so little, find fertile ground and be rooted in the human heart.

-- Henri Nouwen in “Creative Ministry”

#4784

FEAR NOT

“And in the same region there were shepherds out in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night.  And an angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with great fear. And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:8-11 ESV)

With remarkable frequency, the first word God speaks to individuals and groups poised at the edge of momentous decision or holy encounter is this: “Do not be afraid. Do not fear.” What is intended goes beyond an attitude adjustment on our part. What is intended are lives empowered by that decisive word, so that “do not be afraid” finds its fullest expression when we do not live afraid. Faith [in the Savior] does not call us merely to live without fear inside the sanctuary. Discipleship calls us to confront appeals to fear in the world around us and to live our lives and bear our witness [to Christ the Lord] accordingly.

-- John Indermark in “Do Not Live Afraid”


#4736

A HUMBLE BIRTH

“For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.”  (Luke 2:11)

Politicians compete for the highest offices. Business tycoons scramble for a bigger and bigger piece of the pie. Armies march and scientists study and philosophers philosophize and preachers preach and laborers sweat. But in that silent baby, lying in that humble manger, there pulses more potential power and wisdom and grace and aliveness than all the rest of us can imagine.

-- Brian D. McLaren


#4731